ST. PAUL, Minn. – After spending the last few seasons playing in Toronto and showcasing her talents overseas, Thunder Bay’s Michela Cava has found herself in the new home for women’s hockey.
Cava is a forward for Minnesota’s entry in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which began play in January.
“We knew that if there was one league … there would be a lot more interest from everybody as they would have a team they would cheer for and they’re able to follow certain players a lot easier,” Cava said.
“The excitement is something that I haven’t seen before. I was shocked with how good our turnouts have been for our midweek games and it has been a lot of fun to be playing in loud buildings.”
Cava experienced that firsthand in Minnesota’s home opener on Jan. 3 as a crowd of 13,316 came to the Xcel Energy Center to see the team’s 3-0 win over Montreal and set a new attendance record for a women’s professional hockey league game in the process.
During the pre-game warmups, Cava noticed all of the young female fans next to the glass and got a flashback to when she was a kid.
“I grew up watching the NHL and cheering for the (Toronto Maple) Leafs, but I never really had anything like this,” Cava said. “To have little girls look up to us is really cool and that is something that we in this league are all playing and striving for.”
Cava has recorded two points in six games for Minnesota ahead of their road game against Boston on Saturday afternoon.
She scored her first PWHL goal on Wednesday night in a 2-1 home loss to Montreal.
“That was probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever had,” Cava said. “It was just a good play by my linemate (Liz Schepers) going to the net and I was able to pick up the rebound.
“Honestly, I don’t know what happened after that … but I know I celebrated pretty hard.”
After finishing up her collegiate career with the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in 2016, Cava spent her first pro season with the Toronto Furies of the now-defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
She would then spend four seasons in Sweden and also suited up for a team in China before returning to Toronto to play for the Six, who were playing in the Premier Hockey Federation.
That circuit merged with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association in 2023 to set the stage for the PWHL.
Cava said that while having all that pro experience helps, there are some differences between playing in North America and taking to the ice overseas, especially in terms of the overall skill and amount of puck possession that teams like to implement.
“One of the positives with our team is that we are able to take all of the things that we have learned from different coaches in different leagues,” Cava said.
“We’re all pretty smart players and we can roll the things that we’ve picked up, including from our current coach (former NHLer Ken Klee) and put it all together.”
As the season continues for Minnesota, Cava is looking forward to seeing more packed houses when she takes to the ice, especially with those crowds including people from Thunder Bay.
“To know I have family and friends supporting me and having everyone cheering me on has been awesome and I’ve had a lot of people from back home reaching out to me so far this year,” Cava said.
“It’s a great feeling to be back close to Thunder Bay, especially in Minnesota, as there’s that connection from when I played in Duluth and my dad (George) played at St. Scholastica.”
